Steering apparatus for vessels.



Patented Jan. 9, 1900.

J. P. SERVE.

STEERING APPARATUS FOR VESSELS.

(Application filed May 15. 1899.)

(No Model.)

WITNESSES Q-W i JEAN PIERRE SERVE, OF OALUIRE ET OUIRE, FRANCE.

STEERING APPARATUS FOR VESSELS.

SPEOIFICA'I'TON forming part of Letters Patent No. 641,154, dated January 9, 1900. Application filed May 15, 1899. Serial No. 716,930. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JEAN PIERRE SERVE, manufacturer, a citizen of the Republic of France, and a resident of Oaluire et Cuire, near Lyons, in the Republic of France, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Means for Steering and Maneuvering Ships or Vessels, (for which application for patent has been made in France, No. 275,857, filed April 17, 1899,) of which the following is a specification.

My invention has for its object an improved means for steering boats and ships, for displacing them parallel to their longitudinal axis, and for effecting a complete or partial turning to left or right within a very limited space. This arrangement therefore very well replaces a rudder and in any case supplements it very advantageously.

The invention consists, in principle, in arranging a propelling apparatus which imparts to the vessel a movement the direction of which is at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the boat. It is evident in these conditions by arranging apparatuses of this kind on one side and another to the transverse median plane of the boat and-by imparting to these propelling apparatuses a movement in opposite directions two forces will be created, the action of which will cause the boat to turn on itself, and the action of the said forces will be the more efficacious as their point of application is farther removed from the transverse median plane of the boat. Two apparatuses of this kind installed as will be hereinafter shown have a more efficacious action; but the effect of steering and veering may also be obtained by arranging one of these apparatuses at a distance more or less from the center of the boat and causing it to act alone or in combination with the propelling apparatuses, or even by combining my improved arrangement withthat of a rudder, which may also be retained.

Preferably I carry out my invention by making use of two paddle-wheels arranged on one side and the other at a greater or less distance from the median line of the ship.

As will be hereinafter described in greater detail, passages which are open at their ends are formed perpendicularly to the longitudinal vertical plane of the ship and are formed by water-tight partitions in such a way that the water which flows through them cannot penetrate the interior of the ship. The pad- 5 5 posite directions is to cause the boat to turn .on the spot, if it is at a standstill, or to modify more or less its direction, if it is moving. It is evident also that if the two Wheels are caused to revolve in the same directionthe effect will be to move the boat transversely to its longitudinal axis, whether the boat is stationary or moving.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure lis a transverse vertical section of a ship on the line X X of Fig. 2, showing the arrangement of my apparatus with steering-wheels. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on the line Y Y of Fig. 1 with the center broken away.

Referring to the drawings, A is a paddlewheel mounted on a shaft (L, which passes through a water-tight partition B by means of stuffing-boxes b. The driving-shaft a is supported by brackets or bearings located in the interior of the boat and arranged according to the particular case. These bearings are not shown in the drawings, and the same.

is the case for the method of driving the driving-shaft a, which may be arranged in any suitable way, according to the usual arrangement of marine engines. In any case the means for operating the shaft must allow of the wheels being rotated in either direction.

A passage or channel 0, preferably of rectangular section, runs from one side to the other of the ship and has at both ends openings D formed in the side of the ship. Doors (1, hinged at d, serve for closing the openings D. These doors may be manipulated from the interior of the ship by means of the hinge d, which passes through the partition by means of stuffing-boxes; but any other suit able method of opening the doors which attains the same object may be employed.

The tight-fitting partitions B, forming the Walls of the passage, are preferably of sheet iron or steel and are held by angle-irons; but they may be made of any other suitable material, such as cast metal, wood, or the like. The width of the passage 0 corresponds to the width of the paddle-wheels, and it is sufficient if its height be a little greater than that of the paddles of the wheel in order to diminish the application of the water; but I do not limit myself to this height, and I may increase or diminish it, and even make it greater than the diameter of the wheel.

The water which is contained in the interior of the drum b and which receives a rotary movement by reason of the drawing action of the paddles of the wheel performs the office of a fiy-wheel, and thus servesto insure the regularity of the working of the apparatus.

Valves F are placed at the two ends of the passage, behind the doors d, and serve to close the passage in the same way as the doors d,

but hermetically, so as to allow of the wheel and the passage being visited from the interior of the boat for repairs, cleaning, or the like by unriveting or unbolting a portion of the partition. These valves also serve to reduce the size of the passage 0, and consequently enable the extent of the deviation which the movement of the wheel imparts to the ship to be regulated.

Gratings G are arranged between the valves and the wheel in order to prevent seaweed and other foreign matter from engaging in the floats of the wheel. Instead of placing a single valve on each side two may be employed and the grating placed between the two valves.

It is easy to see how the change of direction, a veering, or the transverse displacement of the boat is obtained. The doors and valves being opened, the wheel situated at the fore part of the vessel is given a movement in a contrary direction to that of the wheel situated toward the stern of the boat, and the forces developed acting in a contrary direction cause the movement of the vessel to deviate from a straight line or, if the vessel is stationary, cause it to revolve on its center. In certain cases it will not be necessary to set both wheels in movement. For instance, when the vessel is anchored or secured by one of its ends it may be caused to veer on the spot by operating only one of the Wheels.

It is evident that the action of a single one 'of the wheels while the vessel is under way may be combined with the ordinary propelling apparatus of the vessel in such a way as to modify the direction of the latter. The action of one or both wheels may be combined with that of the rudder, if the latter has been retained; but it is understood that my improvedsystem enables a rudder to be dispensed with.

If, instead of causing one wheel to revolve in a direction contrary to that of the other, both wheels be caused to revolve in the same direction, a displacement of the boat transversely to its longitudinal axis will be obtained, which movement may be combined with that which causes the boat to travel forward and backward. The steering-wheels may be placed at any suitable depth in the vessel; but the nearer they are to the bottom of the hull the more efi'icaciously they will act,

' the effect being better in denser water.

I do not limit my invention to the particular method of carrying out the same which has been hereinbefore specified; but I may make use of such modified arrangements as would suggest themselves to the skilled mechanic for securing the object which I propose to attain. I am not unaware that the screwpropeller has already been employed for maneuvering ships; but it is with quite difierentarrangements.

As I have already hereinbefore indicated, the steering-wheels may be operated by any suitable motor or any suitable system of driving-gear; but one of the most convenient methods consists in actuating them electrically by means of electric accumulators charged by dynamos actuated by the propeller-shaf t of the ship or by independent ongines. When the accumulators are charged, the dynamos are stopped or utilized for some other service. In this manner the accumulators are easily maintained in a condition for working, and thus the steering-wheels may regularly operate on board mechanically-propelled ships. This arrangement has also the advantage that changes in the direction of rotation of the wheels may be easily obtained by means of commutators with an apparatus for changing the direction of travel, as required, arranged in similar manner to that employed for electric tramways. It is even easy to regulate at will the speed of the wheels by causing the energy of the current transmitted to the receiverswhich actuate the wheels to be varied. It is of course understood that this method of transmitting the movement is merely indicated as an example and that I may employ any other suitable method of transmission.

I declare that what I claim is Means for steering and maneuvering vessels, comprising float or paddle wheels located on either side of the transverse median plane of the vessel, the axes of said wheels being parallel to the longitudinal axis of the boat, in combination with channels or passages having water tight walls for containing the Wheels and running from one side of the boat to the other, and doors for closing the ends of the passages, gratings for preventingthe introduction of vegetation or seaweed and sliding valves for hermetically closing the passage, substantially as hereinbefore described and for the purpose set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name, this 1st day of May, 1899, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

' JEAN PIERRE SERVE.

\Vitnesses:

JACQUES CoNnoMY, GERMAIN LATGIE.

IIO 

